As I wrote yesterday, the hoe, Valheim's terrain modification tool, has been enhanced in the latest Valheim patch. The cost to raise a level of ground has been reduced from 4 to 2 stones. This makes terrain modification easier, since it is tedious to carry around a lot of heavy piles of stones, it is time-consuming to pick stones with a pickaxe, and not much stone is extracted for the effort.

However. Along with the reduction in stone costs and the new terrain system added in patch 0.150.3, many players were disappointed (if not completely annoyed) that a particular method of using a hoe was removed in the patch. that method, which can be seen in the CohhCarnage video, instead of clicking several times Instead of multiple clicks, it was a shortcut to quickly and dramatically raise the level of nearby ground with a single click.

Some people see this method as an exploit. Given that using the normal method of raising a level of ground consumes more stones and takes more time, this was clearly not what the developers intended. Since the creatures do not break through the earthen walls, this method allowed players to very quickly create nearly unassailable strongholds in dangerous areas of the world.

But it also allowed for some very cool things to be built that might not have been possible without this method. For example, although the player could not use a hoe while paddling underwater, this method allowed the player to raise a huge pillar of dirt from the ocean floor and create his own island. This is quite amazing! Intentional or not, this method produced some pretty amazing player creations. The hoe buff was a massive hoe nerf for some players.

I can sympathize with players who complain about the removal of exploits. It's easy to get used to a way to skip repetitive hard work like mining for stone. Even if the developers did not intend such a mechanism. There is no doubt that large earthen mounds contribute to poor performance in poorly landscaped areas; Valheim is also intended to be a challenging game, and the abuse of this hoe has undoubtedly made it easier to complete large building projects.

If I had to predict, I would say that a clever Valheim modder will find a way to recreate the magical landscaping in the mod. Perhaps the weight of the stone could be lightened so that players could carry it a bit more, or perhaps mining the stone with pickaxes would gather more resources so that players would not have to spend so much time shoveling the ground.

Or there may be new exploits or workarounds that players have not yet discovered. Since it is a completely new terrain system, there may be new ways to play the game that take advantage of it. We will know in due time. I have emailed the Valheim developers about this issue (the removal of the exploit was not mentioned in the patch notes) and will update this article when I hear back.